How to Buy the Healthiest Honey

By Leaf Contributor

Supermarket honey is heated and filtered, making it more appealing looking, but depleting it of any health benefits that the original product contained. There is a much healthier way to buy honey and increase the health benefits you reap from consuming this natural sweetener.

Raw honey (unfiltered, unstrained & unheated and containing pieces from the honeycombs & the bees) is by far the healthiest honey. Phytonutrients found both in honey and propolis have been shown to have cancer-preventing properties. Additionally honey can aid in digestion, treats allergies, and heals wounds. There are many other researched benefits honey provides. The more processed the honey is the less it contains these beneficial phytonutrients.

To find out more about the benefits of raw honey, see Benefits-of-honey.com and ReallyRawHoney.com. To find out how to buy this healthy honey, read the tips below.

Decide how raw you really want your honey. There are varying degrees of “advertised” raw honey-some is only heated to a minimum degree or is filtered/strained minimally. If you want the purest, healthiest honey as described above, you will usually have to work directly with a local producer and let them know exactly what you want.

Buy honey locally. Local is best because it’s produced by bees which are from the environment in which you live. It is always best to consume foods from the area you live as they contain the immune stimulating properties needed for your body to adapt to its environment.

Visit your local farmer’s market to find honey suppliers and ask them about their honey. Ask them if they would be willing to sell the honey as you request it. Visit Localharvest.org for local honey resources if you are not able to visit a farmer’s market.